Still looking to win-win-win

News | Apr 5, 2025

Story and photos by Lincoln Rogers

The Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo attracts around 300 dedicated volunteers on a yearly basis, including past president and 30-plus-year volunteer Norm Almquist, center, and current President Kevin Whitacre, left, kneeling, who has been volunteering with the popular small-town rodeo since 2014.
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Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo more than doubles capacity of south stands for 2025

With current seating capacity for 2,160 spectators, the Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo has sold out nearly every performance over the last number of years, including standing-room-only tickets. Although the award-winning event has added bleachers in the past by purchasing used from other venues and maintaining them on an annual basis, board members made the push in 2025 to more permanently update capacity and address safety at the same time. Saturday, March 22 saw dozens of enthusiastic volunteers show up to dismantle the south stands next to the timed event chute and make way for new aluminum grandstands that will not only increase capacity from 225 to 550, but will also be Americans with Disabilities Act compliant and increase safety.

“We sell out, so we know there is room (for expansion),” said Kevin Whitacre, current Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo president and volunteer for the event since 2014. “If we can have more seating capacity, we will fill it. The goal here was to double it. This will be ADA compliant with companion seats next to the ADA seats. There will be all aluminum chain link around the perimeter. Just a lot safer.”

Jammed west and south grandstands in 2022 display the need for more capacity at the Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo. In 2025, the south stands (pictured at the far end of the arena) will be replaced with new aluminum grandstands that will increase seating from 225 to 550. The larger grandstands on both the east and west sides of the arena are planned to be replaced in the future with covered seating.

ON THE DRAWING BOARD

Replacing the south stands in 2025 is just Phase 1 of a much larger project that has been years on the drawing board. The project’s completion in the future is planned in collaboration with Elizabeth Parks & Rec’s master plan to include replacing all the grandstands with new bleachers and for the seating to eventually be covered. In an era of rising costs and inflation, rodeo officials view added capacity as a way to keep ticket prices more affordable.

“The expenses keep going up,” said Whitacre about behind the scenes costs that go into the finished product every first weekend in June. “To keep in line with that, we don’t want to just jack the ticket prices up and make it unaffordable for families, so the way we have to do this is add more capacity and keep the ticket prices reasonable.”

The last section of the old south stands bleachers came down on March 22, 2025, to make room for brand new aluminum ADA compliant grandstands that will double the seating capacity in that section from 225 to 550. “If we can have more seating capacity, we will fill it,” said Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo President Kevin Whitacre

FOR THE COMMUNITY

Working on the south stands in 2025 is also a way for the rodeo to show the community they are seeing their support and are putting revenue to good use while forging ahead in search of larger capital to make the entire venue shine.

“We have to come up with a big campaign,” said Whitacre about landing financial partners that see the value in sponsoring the arena, the bleachers, or even the entire rodeo in order to get their names in front of more than 10,000 visitors in one weekend as well as announced and shown through television coverage on The Cowboy Channel. “We feel this will be a launching pad for (a funding) campaign and it will be visible in the rodeo this year,” he added. “We are hoping the community sees we are putting money back into (the facilities).”

It is not just the president of the rodeo that is enthusiastic about moving ahead with tangible upgrades.

“We are very excited,” said Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo Facilities Committee Chair Gabriel Watton about finally kicking off more permanent upgrades to the venue. Watton is also the secretary for the Stampede’s board of directors and a longtime volunteer. “It is the culmination of years of effort at this point,” he continued. “We really started getting into this just a few months ago (and) it has been an accelerated timeline, just to get (the south stands) done. We are excited that it is just not this section of bleachers, but it is the kickoff for, really, a whole new grounds here.”

Current Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo President Kevin Whitacre, left in hardhat, discusses the south stands demotion workday on March 22, 2025, with Gabriel Watton, right, facilities committee chair and secretary on the board of directors. “We are excited that it is just not this section of bleachers, but it is the kickoff for, really, a whole new grounds here,” Watton said.

Watton also addressed the benefits of new grandstands for every phase of the rodeo.

“Our maintenance team, we put in hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars every year,” he said about the efforts to keep up with the current wooden bleachers. “We went through 15-20 gallons of paint on these, last year. The fact we are going to have brand new, completely aluminum, essentially maintenance free bleachers, and they are also going to be ADA compliant… is great. Also, they look good and there is more room for sponsor banners. It is a win-win-win situation, for sure.”

The 2025 Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo schedule (June 5-8) can be found online at https://www.elizabethstampede.com, https://www.facebook.com/elizabethstampede, https://www.instagram.com/elizabethstampede.